Buried Angels

Chapter Fifteen

Patrik was breathing hard by the time they reached the front door. The house was beautifully situated on a hill near the sea, and he had parked the car on Brandparken so they could walk up the path. It bothered him that he sounded like a bellows after climbing the winding path, while Gösta seemed completely unaffected.

‘Hello?’ said Patrik, poking his head in the open door. It was not unusual to do that in the summertime. Everybody left their doors and windows open, and instead of knocking or ringing the bell, visitors would simply yell a greeting.

A woman appeared wearing a sunhat, sunglasses, and some sort of fluttery, colourful tunic. In spite of the heat she had on thin gloves.

‘Yes?’ Her tone of voice suggested that she would have preferred not to speak to them.

‘We’re from the Tanum police. We’re looking for Leon Kreutz.’

‘That’s my husband. I’m Ia Kreutz.’ She shook hands without taking off her gloves. ‘We’re just having lunch.’

She clearly wasn’t happy about them showing up. Patrik and Gösta exchanged glances. If Leon was as standoffish as his wife, this was going to be hard work. They followed her out to the balcony where a man was sitting in a wheelchair at the table.

‘We have visitors. The police.’

The man nodded. He didn’t seem at all surprised to see them.

‘Have a seat. We’re just having a light salad. My wife likes this kind of food.’ Leon gave them a wry smile.

‘My husband would prefer to skip lunch and smoke a cigarette instead,’ said Ia. She sat down and spread a napkin on her lap. ‘Do you mind if I finish eating?’

Patrik motioned for her to continue with her salad while they talked to Leon.

‘I assume you’re here to talk about Valö?’ Leon had stopped eating and placed his hands in his lap. A wasp landed on a piece of chicken on his plate and was allowed to feast in peace.

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘What’s going on out there anyway? We’ve been hearing wild rumours.’

‘We’ve made certain discoveries,’ replied Patrik, not wanting to say too much. ‘I understand that you’ve recently returned to Fjällbacka.’

He studied Leon’s face. One side was smooth with no trace of injury, while the other side was scarred and the corner of his mouth was permanently pulled upward, revealing his teeth.

‘Yes. We bought the house a few days ago, and we moved in yesterday,’ said Leon.

‘What made you come back here after so many years?’ asked Gösta.

‘I suppose the yearning to return grows stronger as the years pass.’ Leon turned his head to gaze out over the water. Patrik now saw only the good side of his face, and it was painfully obvious how handsome Leon must have once been.

‘I would have preferred to stay in our house on the Riviera,’ said Ia. She and her husband exchanged an inscrutable glance.

‘Normally she gets what she wants.’ Again Leon gave them that odd smile of his. ‘But in this case, I insisted. I’ve been longing to come back.’

‘Your family had a summer place here, didn’t they?’ said Gösta.

‘Yes. A house on the island of Kalvö. Unfortunately, my father sold it. Don’t ask me why. He had his whims, and he was a bit eccentric in his old age.’

‘I heard that you were involved in a car accident,’ said Patrik.

‘If Ia hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t be here today. Right, darling?’

Her fork and knife clattered so loudly that Patrik gave a start. She stared at Leon in silence. Then her expression softened.

‘That’s true, darling. Without me, you wouldn’t be alive today.’

‘And you never let me forget it.’

‘How long have you been married?’ asked Patrik.

‘Almost thirty years.’ Leon turned to face them. ‘I met Ia at a party in Monaco. She was the most beautiful girl there. And she played hard to get. I had to really work at it.’

‘It’s not so strange that I was sceptical, considering your reputation.’

Their bickering reminded Patrik of a well-rehearsed dance, but it seemed to calm them both down. For a moment he thought he glimpsed a hint of a smile on Ia’s lips. He wondered what she looked like without the huge sunglasses. Her skin was stretched tight over her jaw, and her lips were so unnaturally full that he suspected her eyes would merely confirm the impression that here was someone who had paid a fortune to enhance her appearance.

Patrik again turned to Leon. ‘We’ve come here to talk to you because, as I mentioned, certain discoveries have been made out on Valö. They indicate that the Elvander family was murdered.’

‘That doesn’t surprise me,’ said Leon after a pause. ‘I’ve never understood how a whole family could simply disappear.’

Ia started coughing. Her face had turned pale.

‘You’ll have to excuse me. There’s really nothing I can contribute, so I think I’ll go inside to finish my lunch in peace and let you carry on your discussion without me.’

‘That’s fine. Leon is the one we came to talk to.’ Patrik moved his feet to allow Ia to pass. Carrying her plate, she swept past in a cloud of perfume.

Leon squinted at Gösta. ‘I have the impression I know you from somewhere. Weren’t you the officer who came out to Valö? The one who took us to the police station?’

Gösta nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘I remember how nice you were. Your colleague, on the other hand, was quite gruff. Is he still on the force?’

‘Henry transferred to Göteborg in the early eighties. I lost contact with him, but I heard that he passed away a few years ago,’ replied Gösta. Then he leaned forward. ‘From what I recall, you were the kind of kid who took charge.’

‘I don’t know about that. But it’s true that I’ve always been able to get people to listen to me.’

‘The other boys seemed to look up to you.’

Leon nodded. ‘You’re probably right about that. What a group that was!’ He laughed. ‘Only at a boarding school for boys would you ever find such an odd bunch.’

‘But didn’t you have a lot in common? You all came from well-to-do families,’ said Gösta.

‘Not Josef. He was there only because of the grand ambitions of his parents. It was as if they’d brainwashed him to believe his Jewish heritage involved certain obligations. They seemed to expect some kind of major achievement from him, to make up for everything they’d lost during the war.’

‘No small task for a young boy,’ said Patrik.

‘He took it very seriously. To this day, he’s still trying to meet their expectations. Have you heard about the Jewish museum?’

‘I believe I read something about it in the newspaper,’ Gösta said.

‘Why does he want to build that sort of museum here?’ asked Patrik.

‘This area has numerous associations with the war. In addition to presenting the history of the Jews, the museum will also highlight Sweden’s role during the Second World War.’

Patrik thought about an investigation they’d carried out a few years earlier, and he realized that Leon was right. Bohuslän was close to the Norwegian border, and the white buses had brought former prisoners from the concentration camps to Uddevalla. There were mixed feelings among the people here. Neutrality was a later invention.

‘You seem well informed about Josef’s plans,’ said Patrik.

‘We met him at Café Bryggan the other day.’ Leon reached for his glass of water.

‘Have the five of you who were on the island that day kept in touch?’

Leon put his glass down after taking a long drink. A little water dribbled down his chin, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand.

‘No. Why would we do that? We split up after the Elvanders disappeared. My father sent me to a school in France. He was rather over-protective. I assume that the other boys were also sent to different schools. As I said, we didn’t have much in common, and we haven’t kept in contact over the years. Although I can only speak for myself, of course. According to Josef, Sebastian has done business both with him and with Percy.’

‘But not with you?’

‘Good Lord, no! I’d rather go diving with white sharks. Which I’ve done, by the way.’

‘Why wouldn’t you want to do business with Sebastian?’ asked Patrik, even though he thought he knew the answer to the question. Sebastian Månsson was notorious in the area, and Patrik’s visit yesterday hadn’t altered his own opinion about the man.

‘If he hasn’t changed, then he’d sell his own mother if it suited him.’

‘Aren’t the others aware of that? Why would they agree to do business with him?’

‘I really can’t say. You’ll have to ask them.’

‘Do you have any theories as to what happened to the Elvander family?’ asked Gösta.

Patrik cast a glance towards the living room. Ia had finished her lunch and the plate was still on the table, but she was nowhere in sight.

‘No.’ Leon shook his head. ‘Naturally I’ve given it a lot of thought, but I can’t for the life of me understand who would have wanted to murder them. It must have been burglars or some crazy person. Like Charles Manson and his gang.’

‘If so, they were awfully lucky to arrive just when you boys happened to be out fishing,’ said Gösta drily.

Patrik tried to catch his attention. This was a preliminary conversation, not an interrogation. It would serve no purpose to antagonize Leon.

‘I can’t think of any other explanation.’ Leon threw out his hands. ‘Maybe something in Rune’s past finally caught up with him. Maybe somebody had been watching the house and saw us leave. Because it was the Easter holiday, there were only five of us to worry about. During the school term there would have been considerably more students present, so it was an opportune moment if somebody intended to get at the family.’

‘And there was no one at the school who might have wished to harm them? Did you notice anything suspicious before they disappeared? Strange noises in the night, for instance?’ said Gösta, and Patrik gave him a puzzled look.

‘Not that I recall.’ Leon frowned. ‘Everything was perfectly normal.’

‘Could you tell us a bit about the family?’ Patrik swatted away a wasp that was stubbornly buzzing in front of his face.

‘Rune ruled them with an iron fist, or at least that was his intention. He was strangely blind to the shortcomings of his own children. Especially the two older ones: Claes and Annelie.’

‘What sort of things did Rune fail to see when it came to those two? It sounds as though you have something specific in mind.’

Leon’s expression went blank. ‘Not really. They were both insufferable – as most teenagers are. Claes liked to bully the weaker students behind Rune’s back. As for Annelie…’ He seemed to be considering how best to phrase it. ‘If she’d been a little older, you probably would have called her man-crazy.’

‘What about Rune’s wife, Inez? How were things for her?’

‘I don’t think she had an easy time of it. She was expected to manage the entire household and take care of Ebba. She also had to put up with all sorts of mischief from Claes and Annelie. Inez would spend the day slaving over the laundry, only to find it scattered on the ground. She would spend hours making stew, then find it burned because someone had turned up the heat on the stove. That sort of thing was forever going on, but Inez never complained. She knew that it would do no good to raise the matter with Rune.’

‘Couldn’t you boys have helped her?’ asked Gösta.

‘Unfortunately, none of us ever saw who did those things. It was easy enough to guess who was to blame, but there was no proof to take to Rune.’ He gave the two police officers an enquiring look. ‘How does it help the investigation to know about relationships between the family members?’

Patrik paused before answering. The truth was he had a gut feeling that the key to what had happened lay in the relationships between the people living on the island. He had no faith in the notion of a bloodthirsty gang of burglars. What was there to steal?

‘Why did the five of you stay at the school during the Easter holiday?’ he asked, opting to ignore Leon’s question.

‘Percy, John and I were there because our parents were travelling. In Sebastian’s case, he was not there by choice. He’d been caught doing something or other, and was forced to stay. Poor Josef was there to get some extra tutoring. His parents didn’t see why he should have a holiday, so they paid Rune to give their son private instruction during the break.’

‘It sounds as if there were ample reasons for the five of you to quarrel.’

‘Why’s that?’ Leon looked Patrik in the eye.

But it was Gösta who answered.

‘Four of you were the sons of wealthy fathers. You were used to getting whatever you wanted. I can imagine that would have led to a good deal of competition. Josef, for his part, came from an entirely different background, plus he was a Jew.’ Gösta paused. ‘And we all know what John’s views are.’

‘John wasn’t like that back then,’ said Leon. ‘It’s true his father wasn’t best pleased that John was attending school with a Jewish boy, but ironically those two boys were close friends.’

Patrik nodded. For a moment he wondered what had made John change. Had he been infected by his father’s opinions as he grew older? Or was there some other explanation?

‘What about the others? How would you describe them?’

Leon didn’t respond immediately. As if in need of time to consider, he stretched his muscles and turned to call towards the living room, ‘Ia? Are you there? Could you make us some coffee?’ Then he settled back into his wheelchair.

‘Percy is a Swedish aristocrat, through and through. He was pampered and spoiled, but he didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He’d had it drummed into him that he was superior to other people, and he liked to talk about battles that his ancestors had fought, but Percy was scared of his own shadow. And Sebastian, as I said, was always on the lookout for a good business deal. He actually carried on quite a lucrative trade out there on the island. No one knew how he managed it, but I think he paid local fishermen to deliver goods, which he then sold for exorbitant prices. Chocolate, cigarettes, soft drinks, and porn magazines. On a few occasions he even sold booze, but he stopped after Rune almost caught him at it.’

Ia came out carrying a tray and set the coffee cups on the table. She didn’t seem comfortable in the role of attentive wife.

‘I hope the coffee is all right. I don’t really know how to work those machines.’

‘I’m sure it’s fine,’ said Leon. ‘Ia isn’t used to living such a spartan existence. Back home in Monaco we have staff to make us coffee, so this is a bit of an adjustment for her.’

Patrik didn’t know whether he imagined it, but he thought there was a hint of animosity in Leon’s voice. Then it was gone, and Leon was again the amiable host.

‘I learned to live very simply during my summers on Kalvö. In the city we had every imaginable comfort. But out there,’ he gazed across the water, ‘Pappa would hang up his suit and put on shorts and a T-shirt. We would go fishing and pick wild strawberries and swim. Simple pleasures.’

He stopped talking as Ia reappeared to serve the coffee.

‘But you haven’t exactly lived a simple life since then,’ said Gösta, sipping his coffee.

‘Touché,’ said Leon. ‘No, there hasn’t been much of that sort of thing. I was more attracted to adventures than to quiet places.’

‘Is it the kick you get out of it that’s so appealing?’ asked Patrik.

‘That’s a rather simplistic way of describing it, but I suppose you could call it a kick. I suppose it must be a little like narcotics, though I’ve never polluted my body with drugs. Certainly, it’s addictive. Once you start, you don’t want to stop. You lie awake at night wondering: Can I climb higher? How deep can I dive? How fast can I drive? Those are questions that eventually require an answer.’

‘But now that’s all over,’ Gösta said.

Patrik wondered why he’d never ordered Gösta and Mellberg to attend an intensive course in interrogation techniques, but Leon didn’t seem offended.

‘Yes, now it’s over.’

‘How did the accident happen?’

‘It was a perfectly ordinary car accident. Ia was driving, and as I’m sure you’re aware, the roads in Monaco are narrow and winding, and in places very steep. There was an oncoming vehicle, Ia swerved too hard, and we ran off the road. The car caught fire.’ His tone was no longer so nonchalant, and he was staring straight ahead, as if he was seeing it all happen again. ‘Do you have any idea how rare it is for a car to catch fire? It’s not like in the movies, where cars explode as soon as they crash. We were unlucky. Ia was more or less okay, but my legs were wedged tight, and I couldn’t get out. I could feel my hands and legs and clothes burning. Then my face. After that I lost consciousness, but Ia pulled me out of the car. That was how her hands got injured. Aside from that, she miraculously suffered only a few cuts and two broken ribs. She saved my life.’

‘When did this happen?’ asked Patrik.

‘Nine years ago.’

‘There’s no possibility that you might…’ Gösta nodded at the wheelchair.

‘No. I’m paralysed from the waist down. I’m grateful that I can even breathe unaided.’ He sighed. ‘One side effect is that I tire easily, and I usually rest for a while at this time of day. Is there anything else I can help you with? If not, I hope you won’t think me rude if I ask you to leave.’

Patrik and Gösta exchanged glances. Then Patrik stood up.

‘That’s all we have for the moment, but we may have occasion to come back to see you again.’

‘You’re welcome to do so.’ Propelling his wheelchair ahead of them, Leon went into the house.

Ia came downstairs and in an elegant farewell gesture, offered her hand to shake.

As they were stepping outside, Gösta turned to speak to Ia, who seemed eager to close the door after them.

‘It’d be good to have the address and phone number for your house on the Riviera.’

‘You mean in case we decide to leave town?’ She gave them a weak smile.

Gösta merely shrugged in reply. Ia went to the hall table and wrote down the address and phone number on a notepad. Then she tore off the page and handed it to Gösta, who stuffed it in his pocket without comment.

When they were sitting in the car, Gösta tried to discuss their meeting with Leon, but Patrik was barely paying attention. He was too busy searching for his phone.

‘I must have left my mobile at home,’ he said at last. ‘Can I borrow yours?’

‘Sorry. You always have your phone with you, so I didn’t bother to bring mine.’

Patrik considered delivering a lecture on why it was important for police officers always to carry a phone, but he realized now wasn’t exactly the best time. He turned the key in the ignition.

‘We’ll drive past my house on the way back. I need to pick up my mobile.’

They were both silent for the few minutes that it took them to reach Sälvik. Patrik couldn’t shake off the feeling that they’d overlooked some important detail during their talk with Leon. He wasn’t sure whether it had been provoked by anything specific, but he had a strong sense that something wasn’t right.

Kjell was looking forward to lunch. Carina had to work in the evening, so she’d phoned to ask whether they could have lunch together at home. It was hard to find time to see each other when one person worked shifts and the other kept normal office hours. If she had several late shifts in a row, days might pass before they saw one another. But Kjell was proud of her. She worked so hard. During the years they were separated, she had supported herself and their son without complaint. Afterwards he discovered that she’d had problems with alcohol, but she’d managed to pull herself out of it all on her own. Oddly enough, it was his father Frans who had persuaded her to do that. One of the few good things he ever did, thought Kjell with a mixture of bitterness and reluctant affection.

Beata, on the other hand… She preferred not to do any work if she could help it. When they were living together, they’d had constant arguments about money. She grumbled about the fact that he wasn’t getting promotions so that he could earn a manager’s salary, while she did little to contribute to their finances. ‘I take care of the household,’ she would always say.

He parked in the driveway, trying to bring his breathing under control. He was still filled with revulsion every time he thought about his ex-wife Beata. It was made worse by the contempt he felt for himself. How could he have wasted so many years on her? Of course he didn’t regret having the children, but he did regret allowing himself to be duped. She had been sweet and young, while he had been much older and easily flattered.

He got out of the car, shaking off all thought of Beata. He refused to allow anything to ruin his lunch with Carina.

‘Hi, sweetheart,’ she said when he came in. ‘Sit down. The food is ready. I’ve made potato pancakes.’

She set a plate on the table in front of him, and he leaned over to breathe in the aroma. He loved potato pancakes.

‘How’s it going at work?’ she asked as she sat down across from him.

Carina had aged well. The delicate laugh lines around her eyes suited her, and she had a nice suntan from the hours she devoted to her favourite pastime: pottering about in the garden.

‘It’s a bit slow. I’m researching a lead I’ve been given on John Holm, but I’m not sure how to proceed.’

He took a bite of pancake. It tasted as good as it looked.

‘Is there no one you can ask for help?’

Kjell was on the verge of dismissing the suggestion when it struck him that she had a point. This was important enough that he needed to put his pride aside. Everything he’d learned about Holm told him that there was some major secret that needed to be exposed. He actually didn’t care whether he was the one who got the story or not. For the first time in his career as a journalist, he found himself in a situation that he’d previously only heard about. He was in possession of the kernel of a story that was bigger than him.

He leapt to his feet. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s something that I have to do.’

‘Right now?’ said Carina, glancing at his half-eaten pancakes.

‘Yes, I’m really sorry. I know you cooked this special lunch, and I was looking forward to having some time together, but I…’

When he saw the disappointment on her face, he almost sat down. He had disappointed her so many times in the past, and he didn’t want to do it again. But then her face lit up and she smiled.

‘Go and do what you have to. I know you wouldn’t run away from a half-eaten potato pancake unless it was a matter of national security.’

Kjell laughed. ‘Right. It’s something like that.’ He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Back at the newspaper office, he wondered how to pitch his proposal. It was probably going to take more than a gut feeling and phone doodles to attract the interest of one of Sweden’s foremost political reporters. He scratched his beard and then realized what he’d say. Erica had told him about the blood, but no newspaper had published anything about the discovery out on Valö. He was almost done writing his article and was planning to offer it to Bohusläningen first. The rumours were probably already flying through the region, and it would be only a matter of time before the other papers caught wind of the story, so he convinced himself that it would be okay if he revealed the news. Besides, even if Bohusläningen lost out on the scoop, the paper was so familiar with the local area that it would do a much better job with follow-up articles than any of the major papers.

For several seconds he simply stared at the phone, gathering his thoughts and jotting down notes. He needed to be well prepared when he rang Sven Niklasson, the political reporter for Expressen, to enlist his help in finding out more about John Holm. And about Gimle.

Paula gingerly climbed out of the car. Mellberg had been scolding her all the way to Valö, first in the car and then on board MinLouis, one of the Coast Guard boats. But his grumbling had not sounded very convincing. By now he knew her well enough to realize that he wouldn’t be able to change her mind.

‘Watch your step. Your mother would kill me if you fell.’ He held her hand as Victor took the other to help her out of the boat.

‘Give me a call if you need a ride back,’ said Victor, and Mellberg nodded.

‘I can’t understand why you insisted on coming along,’ Mellberg said as they walked towards the house. ‘Maybe the boat hasn’t set off yet. This could be dangerous, and it’s silly to put your life at risk.’

‘It’s been almost an hour since Annika rang. I’m sure the boat has already left. And I’m guessing that Annika will try to get hold of Patrik and Gösta, so they’ll be on their way here too.’

‘Yes, but…’ Mellberg began, but then stopped as they reached the front door and called out: ‘Hello! The police are here!’

A blond man wearing a distraught expression came towards them, and Paula surmised he must be Tobias Stark. During the boat ride, she’d managed to get Mellberg to fill her in on the case.

‘We were waiting upstairs in our bedroom. We thought that might be… safest.’ He glanced over his shoulder at the stairs where two other people now appeared.

Paula gave a start when she recognized one of the women. ‘Anna? What are you doing here?’

‘I’m here to take some measurements for the remodelling.’ She was a bit pale, but otherwise composed.

‘Is everyone all right?’

‘Yes, thank goodness,’ said Anna, and the other two nodded.

‘Has anything else happened since you rang the police?’ asked Paula, looking around. Even though she thought the shooter must be long gone, she wasn’t about to risk taking it for granted. She was listening alertly to every sound.

‘No, we haven’t heard a thing. Do you want to see where the shots were fired?’ Anna seemed to have taken charge. Tobias and Ebba stood behind her, silently waiting. Tobias had his arm around Ebba, who was staring straight ahead, hugging herself.

‘Of course,’ said Mellberg.

‘It’s in here, in the kitchen.’ Anna led the way, stopping in the doorway to point. ‘As you can see, the shot came through that window.’

Paula surveyed the damage. There were glass splinters all over the floor, but most of the glass was immediately below the shattered window.

‘Was anyone in here when the shots were fired? And are you sure there were several shots and not just one?’

‘Ebba was in the kitchen,’ said Anna, giving Ebba a nudge. Slowly she raised her eyes to look around the kitchen, as if seeing it for the first time.

‘There was a huge bang,’ she said. ‘The sound was so loud. I didn’t know what it was. Then there was another bang.’

‘So two shots,’ said Mellberg, entering the kitchen.

‘I don’t think we should be walking around in here, Bertil,’ said Paula. She wished that Patrik had come with them. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop Mellberg on her own.

‘Don’t worry. I’ve been to more crime scenes than you’ll ever see in your career, and I know what to do and what not to do.’ He stepped on a big piece of glass, crushing it under his weight.

Paula took a deep breath. ‘I still think we should let Torbjörn and his boys examine the scene before we go disturbing anything.’

Mellberg pretended not to hear her. He went over to inspect the bullet holes in the kitchen wall.

‘Aha! I see those little rascals! Have you got any plastic bags?’

‘In the third drawer,’ said Ebba absentmindedly.

Mellberg pulled open the drawer and took out a roll of freezer bags. He tore off one and put on a pair of rubber gloves that were draped over the tap. Then he returned to the wall.

‘Let’s see, they’re not in very deep, so it should be easy enough to pluck them out. This is going to be a simple job for Torbjörn,’ he announced, prising the two bullets out of the wall.

‘But they need to take photos first,’ Paula objected.

Mellberg wasn’t listening to a word she said. Triumphantly he held out the bag to show them before stuffing it into his shirt pocket. Then he peeled off the gloves and tossed them in the sink.

‘We can’t forget about fingerprints,’ he said. ‘That’s very important in terms of collecting evidence. After so many years on the force, it’s something that just comes naturally.’

Paula bit her lip so hard that she tasted blood. Hurry up, Hedström, said the voice in her head. But her plea went unheeded, and all she could do was watch as Mellberg, unconcerned, stomped around on the broken glass.